Spin, the main weapon at ICC World T20

Going by the early signs in ICC World Twenty20 2012, spin could be the main weapon for teams to claim the trophy this year in Sri Lanka.

Spinners Saeed Ajmal, Sunil Narine, Ajantha Mendis and R Ashwin

We are into the third day of the tournament and what a start we have had in Hambantota on Tuesday night.

It was Ajantha Mendis' game as he bamboozled Zimbabwe batsmen for a record T20I wicket haul of 6/8. Zimbabweans were clueless against Mendis' magic.

In the same game at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, another Mendis, Jeevan, too was shining brighter. He took three wickets as the hosts demolished Zimbabwe by 82 runs.

So, we had nine wickets going to spin from Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe had one. Of the 14 batsmen dismissed in that game, 10 fell to spin while three Sri Lankans were run out while paceman Lasith Malinga took one to deny Mendises a clean sweep.

On the second day, Australia seamers, led by Shane Watson, took the bulk of Ireland wickets, overall only three (Brad Hogg, Glenn Maxwell, George Dockrell) fell to spin out of 10 dismissals in the match.

Later in the night, Yuvraj Singh and R Ashwin shared five wickets between them and Afghanistan spinners had two.

So far in three matches, 20 wickets have gone to spinners out of 39. It is more than 50 percent of dismissals for slow bowlers.

Still, World T20 is awaiting for the introduction of Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sunil Narine of West Indies, Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Graeme Swann (England) and many capable spinners from other teams.

They are certain to make an impact on this global event.

It will be interesting to watch Ajmal, the most successful T20I bowler along with Narine.

Ajmal is one of the best offspinners at the moment. Australians struggled to pick him during their recently concluded series in the United Arab Emirates.

Narine's mystery is still not solved. He was a big hit in Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 5 trophy win. West Indies will be banking on him heavily to justify their pre-tournament favourites tag. Swann too is one of the best.

Sri Lanka and the subcontinent pitches are traditionally known to assist spin. But there were views that it is not the case anymore in the Island nation. But if you go by these early indications, tracks have not changed much.

In the days ahead, we are in for mouth-watering battles between the world's best spinners and batters.

On October 7, we will know the result.

How spinners have fared in three World T20 matches so far (till September 19)